Linda Robson's daughter's cancer scare helped with role

Linda Robson admits her daughter's cancer scare helped her to prepare for a tough storyline.

The 'Loose Women' panellist saw her 'Birds of a Feather' character Tracey Stubbs go through a cancer scare earlier this year and she's now revealed she drew on the experience of her daughter being told she may have skin cancer for the emotional scenes.

She said: "My daughter had to have a cancerous mole removed from her back. It was scary to go through that.

"I went with her to have it done. You think they're just going to take a bit out but they dig right in."

Speaking about how it helped her prepare for the storyline, she added: "I think seeing my daughter going through her scare helped inform the scenes we did on it."

The 57-year-old star confessed she used to use sunbeds to help her get a golden tan and admits she's worried it could increase her chances of being diagnosed.

She told the Daily Star newspaper: "All of us used to bake ourselves in the sun but you pay the price in years to come.

"Touch wood, I've been OK. Nothing has happened to me."

The show, which first launched on the BBC in 1989 before being revived by ITV in 2014, has now been commissioned for another series and while it's a comedy, Linda wants to continue to focus on serious issues.

Linda explained: "When you have three women of the age they are in 'Birds of a Feather', realistically one of us would be affected by cancer. So it was important to do it ... I want to see us do more dramatic storylines. The cast get input with the scripts, which is great."